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Through an intersectional lens, this study explores the experience of being a single gay father by choice in Israeli society, which continues to view the traditional heterosexual two-parent family as the ideal. Analysis of 15 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with single gay Israeli fathers suggests that their experiences are characterized by constant tension between their self-perceived social acceptance and sense of belonging on the one hand and their encounters with discrimination and bias on the other. The findings shed light on the ways in which the fathers’ complex experiences are shaped by the intersection between their identity as parents and their two marginalized identities: single male parents and gay fathers. These identities were found to be highly contextual and affected by macro-level factors. As the fathers cope with their environment, they develop a sense of belonging alongside a deep sense of otherness, suggesting that the sense of belonging and the sense of otherness are not binary opposites, but rather two social categories that are continually constructed through the intersection between different identities and their interaction with macro-level factors, making single gay parenthood a multidimensional experience.

The aim of this Special Issue is to advance our understanding of the factors that shape the experience, well-being, and mental health of individuals on their path to creating new family forms, including adults and children, and to inform the development of policies and practices designed to promote the thriving of these families. This Special Issue contains a collection of 13 papers that shed light on a range of micro- and macro-level factors contributing to the experience and outcomes of members of new family forms from various countries, such as the UK, Israel, Italy, China, Portugal, the Netherlands, the US, and Russia. The papers extend the current knowledge on the subject from a variety of perspectives, including medical, psychological, social, and digital communications. Their findings can aid professionals supporting members of new family forms to recognize the similarities and challenges they share with their counterparts in traditional heterosexual two-parent families, as well as their unique needs and strengths. They may also encourage policymakers to promote laws and policies designed to address the cultural, legal, and institutional constraints facing these families. Based on the overall picture that emerges from this Special Issue, we suggest valuable avenues for future research.

This paper reviews research on gay and lesbian parent families in Israel through cultural lenses while recognizing the diversity of these families. The major aims of the review are: (1) to provide an overview of the situation of LGBTQ parent families in Israel, as well as of the sociocultural background of the Israeli context and its effects on sexual minorities and LGBTQ parent families; and (2) to identify the limitations and lacunas in the existing research and shed light on what remains to be explored. We searched numerous databases for relevant studies, adopting a narrative approach to summarize the main findings while taking into account the literature on the socio-cultural context in Israel and its impact on sexual minorities and LGBTQ parent families. The search yielded empirical results only for gay and lesbian parent families, with studies emphasizing the challenges they face and the factors related to their well-being and that of LGB individuals aspiring to become parents. In addition, it revealed that research on children’s psychosocial adjustment as a function of parental sexual orientation is quite scarce in Israel. Moreover, it indicated the absence of investigations of bisexual, transgender, or queer parents. We conclude that the sociocultural context of Israel, including its pronatalist and familistic orientation, may play an important role in shaping the experiences of LGBTQ parent families, and should be taken into consideration when studying LGBTQ parents.

Facilitating benefit and resource acquisition to assist clients is a major responsibility of medical social workers, requiring them to have a thorough knowledge of community resources, legislation, and regulations. The aim of the current study was to examine knowledge of the Law for Compensation of Scalp Ringworm Victims and ringworm-related irradiation damage among 101 social workers employed in diverse healthcare settings in Israel. We found that 65.3% of the social workers were aware of the law, but only 40.6% were aware of the health effects of scalp ringworm irradiation. Media coverage and clients who underwent scalp ringworm irradiation were social workers' major sources of knowledge. Working with former ringworm patients had the strongest association with knowledge of the law and of ringworm-related irradiation damage. Results highlight the important contribution of exposure to clients' experiences and knowledge to expand social workers' knowledge of health issues.

This article focuses on Israeli single gay fathers, using the Stress Process Model (SPM) as a framework to investigate their fathering experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thematic analysis of 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews with Israeli single gay fathers during the third national lockdown revealed that their parenting experiences during the pandemic were shaped by both COVID-related stress exposure and interpersonal resources, which the fathers viewed as interactive. These fathers described three main pandemic-specific stressors: financial insecurity and workplace transformation, feelings of loneliness and isolation and health-related fears. Our findings highlight the cumulative effects of these stressors on the fathers' well-being. The fathers also described the ways in which their interpersonal resources (i.e., social networks and strengthened relationship with their children during the pandemic) facilitated their coping with the pandemic-related stressors. The study highlights the need for social workers to recognize the emerging family forms and to broaden their approach to parents during a time of ongoing community crisis, by addressing the differential effects on parents in diverse family structures.

Recent studies have linked hair loss due to childhood irradiation for tinea capitis, a fungal infection of the scalp, to adverse psychosocial and health outcomes in women. However, no study to date has examined gender differences in the outcomes of this type of hair loss. The current study aimed to investigate gender differences in health and psychosocial outcomes of hair loss resulting from childhood irradiation for tinea capitis, and to identify the risk factors associated with depression in both men and women. Medical records held at the archives of the Israel National Center for Compensation of Scalp Ringworm Victims were retrospectively reviewed for 217 women and 105 men who received maximum disability compensation due to severe hair loss resulting from irradiation for tinea capitis. We found that women were at increased risk of developing psychosocial symptoms, including depression. Gender emerged as a significant predictor of depression, distinct from other predictors, such as marital status, age at radiation, exposure to verbal and physical bullying, low self-esteem, social anxiety, and physical health problems. Thus, the psychosocial needs of patients, particularly female patients, who were irradiated for tinea capitis during childhood need to be taken into account by the healthcare professionals treating them.

In this article, we aim to describe and demonstrate the use of a methodology for using arts-based techniques to co-produce knowledge with community members, thus making it accessible at both the theoretical and practice levels for social workers and social work educators. In this methodology, the arts are used not as a diagnostic tool or as fine art, but rather as a trigger for a reflective and socially critical dialogue with community members, with the aim of understanding how they experience their life situation. The proposed methodology includes three central compositional elements of art analyses: the inter-relationship between figure and background within a composition, the recourses and obstacles included in the picture background and the use of symbols and metaphors. The present manuscript illustrates this innovative analytical prism, providing examples of images and explanatory narratives of engaged and married young Muslim women in Israel, as self-defined by the participants rather than as an external anthropology. We further outline the implications of this methodology for other cases.

Community crises require the provision of short-term reflective intervention methods to help service users identify stressors, and access and intensify their adaptive coping. Here, we demonstrate the use of a single-session online cognitive behavioral- and art-based (CB-ART) intervention within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this method, the individual draws three images: his/her COVID-19-related stress, his/her perceived resources, and an integration of stress and resources. This method provided a reflective space in which individuals could identify their experienced stressors, acknowledge their coping resources, and integrate these two elements within the context of the current pandemic. In this article, we use illustrative examples from a study implemented during the first national lockdown in Israel and present a tool that can be easily implemented by mental-health professionals in ongoing community crises. The aims of this intervention were to co-create knowledge with service users, access their self-defined needs and strengths, and enhance their coping by enabling them to view stress and coping as part of the salutogenic continuum.

Until 1960, hundreds of thousands of children worldwide had been treated for scalp ringworm by epilation via irradiation. The discovery of late health effects in adulthood prompted investigation of the medical aspects of irradiation in childhood and led to the establishment of strict protocols for the use of X-ray irradiation. These studies ignored alopecia, which affects some individuals who underwent irradiation for scalp ringworm as children. This study examined the impact of alopecia due to irradiation for scalp ringworm on the health and psychosocial status of affected women.We analysed a random sample of 130 medical files of women recognised by Israel's state committees as suffering from permanent hair loss as a result of scalp ringworm irradiation in childhood. The coded medical data included demographic variables, self-reported mental health conditions, self-reported physical health conditions, self-reported social conditions, and spousal relationship.Compared with the general population of women in Israel, research participants reported significantly higher rates of depression, anti-depressant and/or anti-anxiety drug use, psychotherapy or psychiatric hospitalisation, attempted suicide, migraines, cancer, and divorce. Many described humiliating social experiences due to their appearance, both in childhood and adulthood, that led them to curtail their social interactions. The participants also reported that alopecia negatively affected their spousal relationships.Life with hair loss from scalp ringworm irradiation in childhood has a negative impact on women's health status and psychosocial state. Health policy-makers must broaden their approach to women who underwent scalp ringworm irradiation by addressing the effects of their hair loss in addition to the effects of the radiation treatment per se. This may be achieved by guiding physicians who provide medical services to these women to take into account the psychosocial and health risks related to hair loss in their diagnosis and treatment as well as by creating a cadre of specially trained mental health professionals who can address their unique psychosocial needs. They must also consider including the specialized mental health services tailored for these women's unique needs in the Healthcare Basket.

Hair loss resulting from childhood irradiation for tinea capitis has been linked to mental health effects in women. However, the association of hair loss severity with mental health in this population is unknown. To address this gap, this study examined the association between hair loss severity and mental health outcomes in women irradiated for tinea capitis in childhood as well as the factors that contribute to these outcomes. Medical records, held at the archives of the Israel National Center for Compensation of Scalp Ringworm Victims, were retrospectively reviewed for 2509 women who received compensation for full or partial alopecia resulting from irradiation for tinea capitis. Mental health outcomes were determined by the number of mental health conditions reported. The results show that among women with more hair loss, risk was increased for a range of mental health problems, especially social anxiety (RR 2.44, 95% CI 2.09&ndash, 2.87). Hair loss severity emerged as a significant predictor of mental health, adding to the effects of other predictors such as family, social and physical health problems (&beta, = 0.13, 95% CI 0.27, 0.56). The effects of hair loss severity on mental health outcomes were mediated by women&rsquo, s negative social experiences (indirect = 0.72, 95% bias-corrected confidence interval, 0.53&ndash, 1.08). Healthcare professionals supporting women with hair loss after irradiation for childhood tinea capitis should be alert to a history of severe levels of hair loss.

Background Until 1960, hundreds of thousands of children worldwide had been treated for scalp ringworm by epilation via irradiation. The discovery of late health effects in adulthood prompted investigation of the medical aspects of irradiation in childhood and led to the establishment of strict protocols for the use of X-ray irradiation. These studies ignored alopecia, which affects some individuals who underwent irradiation for scalp ringworm as children. This study examined the impact of alopecia due to irradiation for scalp ringworm on the health and psychosocial status of affected women. Methods We analysed a random sample of 130 medical files of women recognised by Israel’s state committees as suffering from permanent hair loss as a result of scalp ringworm irradiation in childhood. The coded medical data included demographic variables, self-reported mental health conditions, self-reported physical health conditions, self-reported social conditions, and spousal relationship. Results Compared with the general population of women in Israel, research participants reported significantly higher rates of depression, anti-depressant and/or anti-anxiety drug use, psychotherapy or psychiatric hospitalisation, attempted suicide, migraines, cancer, and divorce. Many described humiliating social experiences due to their appearance, both in childhood and adulthood, that led them to curtail their social interactions. The participants also reported that alopecia negatively affected their spousal relationships. Conclusions Life with hair loss from scalp ringworm irradiation in childhood has a negative impact on women’s health status and psychosocial state. Health policy-makers must broaden their approach to women who underwent scalp ringworm irradiation by addressing the effects of their hair loss in addition to the effects of the radiation treatment per se. This may be achieved by guiding physicians who provide medical services to these women to take into account the psychosocial and health risks related to hair loss in their diagnosis and treatment as well as by creating a cadre of specially trained mental health professionals who can address their unique psychosocial needs. They must also consider including the specialized mental health services tailored for these women’s unique needs in the Healthcare Basket.

This study evaluated the Mom to Mom (M2M) program operating in the Negev region of Israel, an area with a high proportion of immigrants. M2M helps women cope with the first year of parenting through home visits of volunteer mothers. Specific objectives were to evaluate (1) Participants' motivations for joining M2M; (2) Gains from participation; and (3) The effect of participation on post-partum depression (PPD). Three stages included (1) Analysis of demographics of all 440 mothers in M2M; (2) A telephone survey of 51 mothers to assess gains from participation; and (3) 137 mothers filled out the Edinburgh Post-Natal Depression Scale (EPDS) and were followed for one year. Most mothers in M2M were first time mothers, with a high rate of perinatal complications (54.4%) and positive EPDS scores (38.7%). Two major reasons for participation were being an immigrant and having low income. The greatest gains from home visits were increased self-confidence, improved parenting skills and communication with the partner. Seventy-nine percent of mothers with PPD symptoms were functioning at work and at home after a year from joining the program. Our findings suggest that M2M has the capacity to address challenges in the post-natal period among women from diverse cultures.

Over 300,000 people in Israel cope with temporary or permanent hair loss (alopecia) that results from diseases and medical treatments. For women, hair loss can be a highly traumatic event that may lead to adverse psychosocial consequences and health outcomes. Nevertheless, this phenomenon has been mostly ignored by health professionals as it is primarily considered an aesthetic-rather than as a health-related issue. Only recently the Healthcare Basket Committee approved financial assistance for the purchase of wigs by patients coping with hair loss. Given the important role that the media plays in shaping health policies related to diagnoses, treatment and support services, the current study sought to enrich our understanding of how the media portrays disease-related hair-loss.Using framing and agenda-setting theories, this study examined the media portrayals of hair loss associated with three diseases-cancer, alopecia areata, and ringworm, depicted in Israeli newspapers in 1994-2016. The sample consisted of 470 articles about the three diseases: 306 on cancer, 36 on AA, and 128 on ringworm.Textual and visual analysis revealed the ways media marginalize this physical flaw. Cancer was framed in medical terms, and patients were portrayed as older Israeli-born people whose hair loss was absent from their experience. Ringworm was framed as a fear-inducing disease; patients were portrayed as faceless, unidentified immigrants that coped with visible hair loss. Articles on AA provided the greatest focus on the patient's experience of hair loss, but patients were portrayed as young foreign people.Our results revealed a hierarchy of stigmas against hair loss, in which the media coverage marginalized this experience. The omission of hair loss by the media may explain, at least in part, why health professionals often ignore the psychosocial needs of these patients. Health insurance funding of wigs is a helpful but nevertheless insufficient solution to coping with feminine hair loss. Our findings may encourage media leaders to conduct planned media interventions to increase awareness of clinicians and health policymakers about the unique challenges faced by women coping with hair loss and promote health policy-making aimed at the well-being of these women.

Background Over 300,000 people in Israel cope with temporary or permanent hair loss (alopecia) that results from diseases and medical treatments. For women, hair loss can be a highly traumatic event that may lead to adverse psychosocial consequences and health outcomes. Nevertheless, this phenomenon has been mostly ignored by health professionals as it is primarily considered an aesthetic—rather than as a health-related issue. Only recently the Healthcare Basket Committee approved financial assistance for the purchase of wigs by patients coping with hair loss. Given the important role that the media plays in shaping health policies related to diagnoses, treatment and support services, the current study sought to enrich our understanding of how the media portrays disease-related hair-loss. Methods Using framing and agenda-setting theories, this study examined the media portrayals of hair loss associated with three diseases—cancer, alopecia areata, and ringworm, depicted in Israeli newspapers in 1994–2016. The sample consisted of 470 articles about the three diseases: 306 on cancer, 36 on AA, and 128 on ringworm. Results Textual and visual analysis revealed the ways media marginalize this physical flaw. Cancer was framed in medical terms, and patients were portrayed as older Israeli-born people whose hair loss was absent from their experience. Ringworm was framed as a fear-inducing disease; patients were portrayed as faceless, unidentified immigrants that coped with visible hair loss. Articles on AA provided the greatest focus on the patient’s experience of hair loss, but patients were portrayed as young foreign people. Conclusions Our results revealed a hierarchy of stigmas against hair loss, in which the media coverage marginalized this experience. The omission of hair loss by the media may explain, at least in part, why health professionals often ignore the psychosocial needs of these patients. Health insurance funding of wigs is a helpful but nevertheless insufficient solution to coping with feminine hair loss. Our findings may encourage media leaders to conduct planned media interventions to increase awareness of clinicians and health policymakers about the unique challenges faced by women coping with hair loss and promote health policy-making aimed at the well-being of these women.

The present chapter focuses on a relatively new family configuration, comprised of a gay man and a heterosexual woman who choose to conceive and raise a child together outside of marriage. In this family configuration, which we have termed the “hetero-gay family”, both birth parents are actively involved in their children’s daily lives and in child-related decisions, although they do not share a residence. To date, little is known about men’s and women’s motives for choosing the hetero-gay family as the context for raising their children. We found more similarities than differences between the men and women. A key motivation for all the men and women in this study to establish the hetero-gay family was the belief that both a mother and a father are essential to a child’s development. This traditional view of the ideal parental model paradoxically led them to their choice of a nontraditional family. From their perspective, the establishment of a hetero-gay family enabled them to create a “standard’’ family that is in accord with the traditional two-parent family model in many respects. The coexistence of traditional and progressive attitudes about the family and parenting may be explained, at least in part, by gender, sexuality, and cultural context of the Israeli society.

The negative impact of early marriage on girls’ psychosocial well-being is well documented in the literature, but little is known about the girls’ motivations and experiences within marriage. A phenomenological case study approach, combining artwork and semi-structured interviews, was used to investigate the motivations and experiences of early marriage among 10 engaged and married young Muslim women who married young in Israel. The findings regarding the engaged women point to their decision to use marriage as a way to fulfill their need for freedom, their wish to experience love in a culturally respectable frame, and to escape from poverty and from difficult family. Conversely, the married women’s narratives point to the heavy price and limited benefits of early marriage, in creating intense new problems and not providing relief from former problems. The regret over having not studied, intense loneliness, lack of money, and the search for a more respect-based marriage are predominant themes. The financial and social motivations for marriage found among the women studied suggest that in their decision to marry young, they were not passive victims of love or society but were rather taking an active pragmatic decision within the very limited options open to them.

Nepal suffered a major 7.8 Richter Scale earthquake on April 25, 2015. At the time of the earthquake, 116 young adult Nepalese were studying in Israel. This study examined the effect of a single-session intervention that combined knowledge about stress responses and effective coping with drawing to reduce their stress 4 days after the earthquake. To examine the intervention effect, the SUDS values of the students were measured using a pre-post design. Participants reported high levels of distress at the start of intervention. Their levels of distress significantly decreased on completion of the intervention. Results extend prior findings of the efficacy of an easily implemented intervention for stress reduction among individuals indirectly exposed to disaster conditions.

Research on mental health professionals (MHPs) exposed to a shared war reality indicates that they are subject to emotional distress, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, and vicarious trauma. This article focuses on a CB-ART (cognitive behavioral and art-based) intervention implemented during the 2014 Gaza conflict with 51 MHPs who shared war-related experiences with their clients. The intervention included drawing pictures related to three topics: (1) war-related stressors, (2) coping resources, and (3) integration of the stressful image and the resources drawing. The major aims of the study were (1) to examine whether significant changes occurred in MHP distress levels after the intervention, (2) to explore the narratives of the three drawing and their compositional characteristics, and (3) to determine which of selected formats of the integrated drawing and compositional transformations of the stressful image are associated with greater distress reduction. Results indicate that MHP distress levels significantly decreased after the intervention. This stress-reducing effect was also reflected in differences between the compositional elements of the &lsquo, stress drawing&rsquo, and the &lsquo, integrated drawing,&rsquo, which includes elements of resources. Reduced distress accompanied compositional transformations of the stressful image. MHPs can further use the easily implemented intervention described here as a coping tool in other stressful situations.

The experience of mental pain among female suicide attempt survivors is an under-represented topic in suicide research. The present exploratory study examined the mental pain experience among a culturally diverse sample of four female suicide attempt survivors using in-depth interviews. The findings reveal several characteristic of the mental pain experience including despair, hopelessness, and emptiness. Although the participants came from multi-cultural backgrounds and suffered from different psychiatric disorders, similarities were found in the manner in which they described their pain. Results suggest unique characteristics of mental pain are shared across cultures and that mental pain may be distinguished from the psychiatric symptoms of mental disorders. This study evidences the importance of listening to life stories to gain understanding of the mental pain experience and to identify resilience factors that are present in the lives of female suicide attempt survivors interviewed. Implications for treatment intervention and further research are discussed.

Poverty as expressed in food insecurity may negatively affect the victims' physical, social, emotional, and cognitive functioning. This article focuses on the discrepancy between the cognitive structural explanation of food insecurity, and the emotional impact that students hold in relation to this social problem, as shown in their images of poverty. This discrepancy is accessed through arts-based research that uses a projective drawing and phenomenological explanation to reveal these gaps between what social practitioners know and what they feel in relation to food insecurity and hunger. The above paper will show that that while the students may verbally "speak" systemic or socially critical theories of poverty and of food insecurity, they "draw" food insecurity through fatalistic, psychological, and individualistic theories of poverty, or experience and draw dissonance between what they want to draw (what they think) and what they end up drawing (what they experience). The article shows how images can help reveal this gap between what is thought and what is felt, so as to enable social practitioners more self-awareness as a base for effective interventions in relation to poverty.

Little is known about openly gay men who elect to conceive and raise children jointly with a heterosexual woman outside of marriage. Drawing on in-depth interviews with nine Israeli gay fathers who are co-parenting with a heterosexual woman, this study examines the factors associated with their unique family choice and the characteristics these men sought in selecting the mother. The findings revealed three key motivations for establishing a hetero-gay family: belief in the essential mother, belief in biological parenting, and the belief that the child's best interests dictate having two parents of the opposite sex. These beliefs, along with seeking co-parents with maternal attributes, reflect traditional attitudes and a wish to reproduce the traditional family. At the same time, however, these men all planned on being “new,” actively involved fathers who shoulder child-rearing responsibilities. Possible implications of holding concurrently traditional and progressive attitudes are discussed.

This study examined the interplay between sociodemographic factors and parental smoking history in shaping the smoking behavior of Israeli women (N = 302). The study was conducted in the Negev region, which is characterized by a high proportion of immigrants and high percentage of low socioeconomic and educational groups. The specific objectives of this study were to examine: (1) The prevalence and characteristics of women smokers, ex-smokers and never-smokers; and (2) the contribution of education and parent smoking history to women's current smoking. Low levels of education, being Israeli born or veteran immigrants of European-American origin significantly increased the risk of smoking, whereas an orthodox lifestyle and new immigrant status significantly reduced the likelihood of smoking. Occasional smokers reported significantly higher primary care utilization than never smokers. A significant relationship between smoking and pain, gynecological symptoms and depression was found. Results indicate that childhood exposure to maternal smoking was a significant risk factor for smoking, whereas paternal past smoking negatively affects smoking in women. Also, results show that parental educational level affects women's smoking behavior indirectly by influencing their own educational attainment, which in turn is negatively associated with the likelihood of smoking. Mothers with higher education were more likely to smoke, an effect that was reversed for their daughters. Our results demonstrate how demographic, parental and lifestyle factors affect women's smoking in a multi-ethnic society and highlight the need to examine both generational and intergenerational effects.

Widespread international concern exists about school dropout and substance use among high risk youth. This article examines the issue in Israel and the impact of a 90 day treatment program on a prospective sample of youth. A cohort of 77 youths completed a self-report questionnaire prior to receiving substance abuse treatment. These youth were compared to those attending and disengaged from school. With the exception of inhalants that tend to be a substance more commonly used by youth in school, dropouts report much higher rates of substance use especially those referred to treatment. For this population, the impact of a 90 day residential treatment program was evaluated. Results show the potential such treatment has on reducing substance use. Given the paucity of literature on this topic, this paper makes an initial contribution to understanding a growing problem of youth who have dropped out of school and who are substance users.

The study presented here considered heterosexual women who chose to conceive and raise children together with gay men outside marriage. In-depth interviews with 10 Israeli mothers who had established hetero-gay families revealed their motivations for choosing this family configuration and the characteristics they sought in the fathers. The findings revealed that the women maintained traditional values with respect to the ideal parental model, two-gender parenting, and the attributes they sought for the coparents of their children. Rather than overtly challenge institutional patriarchy, these women chose to establish an alternative family that circumvented patriarchal impositions.

This study investigates the impact of the first-year program on the initial practice orientations of 2 distinct, equal-sized clusters of entering BSW students: micro-oriented and macro-oriented students. Results indicate that the proportion of students reporting a micro-practice orientation increased from 53.2% to 62.4% between the beginning and end of the year, whereas the proportion of students expressing a strong interest in macro-level practice decreased from 46.8% to 37.6%. At the end of the year, students interested in macro-level practice were also found to be interested in micro-level practice, indicating their generalist practice orientation. The findings are discussed in the light of 3 different approaches, which together provide a deeper understanding of the factors associated with students’ professional socialization.

This paper aims to throw light on the emotional and cognitive processes of students within social change-oriented field work as they develop over a year, as described through a projective and phenomenological art medium drawn and discussed at the beginning and at the end of the year. The literature on social work points to a discrepancy between the cognitive structural explanations of social problems that are taught to social work students, and their tendency to prefer focusing on individual rather than on societal levels of intervention. The aim of this examination of the students' processes over the year is to increase our understanding of the students' experience and understanding of their social change mission, so as to better prepare them for the challenges it entails, and to see where they get ‘lost’. Findings from this paper point to the gradual internalization of social change as a complex process, combined with the reframing of this complexity into tangible results.

The growing interest in social work education in Israel over the past 5 years, despite its current social and political context, was the impetus for this study, which attempted to identify the practice orientations of 119 incoming BSW students in an antisocial era. Two distinct, equal-size clusters were found. Half of the students were micropractice oriented, indicating greater interest in working with individuals, couples, and families. The other half were macropractice oriented, more interested in working with communities and in policy-practice and social change activities. Conclusions and implications for social work education are discussed.

The phenomenon of nonmarital motherhood among upper-middle-class, educated women has increased dramatically over the last few decades in most industrialized countries. The purpose of the current research is to examine how women who elect nonmarital motherhood compare with women who elect other family configurations with respect to their personality characteristics. This research compares the fear of intimacy in close heterosexual relationships and hardiness of 61 single mothers by choice to that of 53 divorced and 60 married mothers in Israel. The findings indicate that single mothers by choice have a significantly higher level of fear of intimacy in heterosexual relationships compared to married mothers. No significant differences were found between the three groups of mothers in hardiness. Limitations and implications of the findings are discussed.

Although single motherhood by choice has become more common in the last three decades, little is known about the influence of this family structure on the quality of life of mothers. To address this gap, the current study examined the quality of life profile of 61 single mothers by choice (SMC) in comparison to that of 53 divorced and 60 married mothers in Israel. The findings indicate similarities between the three groups in the psychological, physical, social, and cultural components of quality of life. However, after controlling for economic and paternal involvement variables, the quality of life of SMC was significantly higher in all four components compared to that of married mothers. No significant differences were found between the SMC and divorced mothers.

The hetero-gay family is a relatively new family configu- ration that is headed by a heterosexual mother and gay father who con- ceive and raise children together, although residing separately. This article presents the unique characteristics of hetero-gay families and the potential implications for child development of growing up in a het- ero-gay family. Recent research on non-marital motherhood and fa- therhood among gay men is used to inform the debate. Comparisons of hetero-gay families to other family configurations help highlight central issues and offer directions for future research. (Article copies avail- able for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800- HAWORTH. E-mail address: Website: © 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Israel is an immigrant society comprised of diverse ethnic groups differentiated by variables such as emigration history, health status, educational level, and economic status. The major question addressed in this study is whether differences in women's mental health status are related to ethnic group origin, per se, or rather can be explained by the associated social-demographic strata. The impact of ethnic group origin, social support, health status, education, and economic difficulties was assessed on a set of mental health outcomes. The analysis was carried out in a random sample of 522 women residing in the Negev region of Israel-a culturally diverse area. The findings indicate that social support, economic status, health status, and ethnic group origin all contribute to shaping women's mental health status.

This paper analyzes the “gender strategies” of a sample of Israeli women social workers as evidenced in the recommendations that they write for the courts on custody and visiting rights for divorcing couples. Textual analysis of these reports reveals what Hochchild terms a “traditional gender strategy,” manifested in a consistent pattern of gender stereotyping. There are clear differences in the way the social workers present the husband and wife as persons, both separately and in relation to one another, and in the roles that they expect them to fulfill, with the man being assigned the provider role and the woman the parent role. Even the way they collect information about the two parents' relationships with their children is different. The paper concludes with a discussion of the practical implications of the findings.

This study of 302 Israeli women sought to investigate the associations among stressful reproductive experiences (e.g. fertility problems, abortions, and traumatic births), chronic medical conditions, pain, and depression. The specific aims of the study were to examine (1) the effect of stressful reproductive experiences, chronic medical conditions, and pain on depressive symptoms and (2) the effect of stressful reproductive experiences, chronic medical conditions, and depressive symptoms on pain. Our findings corroborate with previous studies demonstrating that depression and pain are two interrelated, but different phenomena, which have both common and distinct risk factors. The findings are discussed in the light of stress and adaptation theories that point to the long-term effects of stressful life events on emotional and physiological aspects such as depression and pain.

In this study, we investigated the coping behaviors used by Israeli mothers to manage various sources of stress, including security-related stress, based on a life-course perspective of women's health. A random telephone survey of 302 mothers who had children under age 18 living at home was conducted in the Negev area. Measures of stress such as domestic violence, sources of tension in everyday life, and time pressure were assessed together with indicators of exposure to the Intifada for their relationship to indicators of physiological health and depression. Factor analysis revealed three distinct coping styles: social-leisure style, loosening control style, and a restlessness style which were used by 91.4%, 68.5%, and 69.5% of the sample, respectively. Security-related stress was associated with greater reported health symptoms, particularly gynecological symptoms. A history of child abuse and domestic violence and exposure to the Intifada were associated with greater depressive symptoms, but not with physical health indicators. Other sources of stress particularly affected symptoms related to gynecological function. Most mothers used a variety of coping strategies during times of chronic security stress, some of which are health promoting and others that detract from health.

Health care professionals are prone to continuous stress due to their occupational demands. Occupational stress is defined as a response to chronic job-related stress characterized by physical and emotional exhaustion and stress related disorders. Very few studies have examined the impact of cognitive behavioral interventions (CBI), including information provision and education on stress reactions among nurses. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of CBI on nurses’ sense of coherence (SOC), perceived stress, and mood states. A pre-post test design, with control, was chosen in order to meet the aims of the study. Participants consisted of thirty-six registered nurses. Nurses were recruited from all hospital wards by snowballing technique. Twenty nurses comprised the CBI group (study-group). A control group of sixteen nurses were matched by terms of age, education, and marital status. The psychological measures of the two groups were compared at baseline (t1) and did not differ with regard to their SOC, perceived stress, and mood states. Effect of group on psychological measure was carried out by analysis of covariance. The pre-post effects within each group controlling for t1 showed that in the CBI group, a statistically significant change was found in four of the psychological measures: the values of SOC and vigor mood state increased, while values of perceived stress and fatigue mood state significantly decreased at t2. No such changes were observed in the control-group. The results are discussed in the conceptual frame of stress and coping theory. Recommendations for health professionals’ education are suggested.